


Don't Stop the Music

by lc2l



Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-22
Updated: 2011-04-22
Packaged: 2017-10-18 21:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/193553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lc2l/pseuds/lc2l
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coming here—being on American idol—would have been as good a time as any to retire but people don't stop needing to be saved just because Kris is finally following his dream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Stop the Music

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://cookie57.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**cookie57**](http://cookie57.dreamwidth.org/) for betaing and providing constant cheerleading at the ridiculous hours in the morning when this fic got written.

They say Samson cut his own hair so he could say 'I can't' rather than 'I won't.' Kris thinks this is ridiculous because if he never sang again, he would be so much saying 'I can't' as 'basically I decided fuck you all'.

Kris never actually met Samson, but he figures no one who was that much of an asshole would put on a costume in the first place.

Not that he's never considered ditching the mask, burning the gloves and folding his cape away in the attic. Coming here—being on American idol—would have been as good a time as any to retire but people don't stop needing to be saved just because Kris is finally following his dream.

Powers are rare enough these days. No one who has them can afford to squander them.

Anyway it turns out idol has had superhero contestants before so there are procedures in place. Kris gets a mansion key and sleeps during the hours allocated to shopping, sending a nameless runner in his place who returns with plaid shirts that perfectly match the ones he already owns and plain T-shirts that Kris cannot quite believe the price of.

He was going to send Adam until he saw the clothes his roommate brought back the first time and ... No. Kris only wears that much leather when his face is hidden thank you very much. Adam is, naturally, much put out by this and decides it is his job to go through all of Kris's clothes and declare them all far too loose, incredibly dull and quite insufficiently fabulous.

Kris lies on the bed, propped up on one elbow. He still has to choose a song, work out how he wants to sing it and find a map of the city to try and work out where the Diamond Thief will strike next. He has a thousand things to do, and it shouldn't be this easy to just lie still and watch Adam throw another plaid shirt into the 'oh God, Kris, why did you buy this, do you live to hurt me?' pile.

He has never had cause to be still before. Katy—in the brief time they dated—had been just as driven as he was, her mind full of nemisi and plots and dry cleaners who understood the importance of secrecy.

Kris had to admit, she made a far better sidekick than girlfriend. She even came with him to LA, meeting him by the mansion doors every night in a black wig and skintight black leather. She claims she knew he was gay the moment he didn't react to her costume.

Adam holds up the old ' _Don't Stop the Music'_ T-shirt and a slight frown touches his face. "Are you a fan?"

Kris had always thought the name was too long to catch on, but Katy had disagreed and—as with all things—she had been right. "It's nice that someone's fighting the good fight," he says, deliberately neutral. "I suppose."

Adam looks back down at the shirt then sighs and folds it away. "I don't believe in heroes. And that one? He just seems so small, so fragile."

Kris bristles, even though he knows he shouldn't. "He's protecting the people, Adam. Somebody has to. Anyway, size isn't everything and he has powers, he doesn't need strength."

Adam twists to look at him, searching, and Kris blushes convinced for a moment that he's given too much away and Adam's going to go hunting in his wardrobe. Adam will find the hidden panel, pull out Kris's costume, everything will be over.

But Adam just closes the drawers and moves over to sit on the bed, tugging Kris into a loose, one-armed hug. "And who protects him?"

*

Kris first knew he was different when he was six years old. He knew he wasn't supposed to sing—everyone else in his family did but he was special and wasn't allowed—but he was alone and, secretly, he liked to sing.

It was just a little tune, something he'd heard his father humming as he did the cleaning. Kris had been upset because Daniel got the last biscuit and Daniel always got everything because he was younger and it was so _unfair._

Kris was just singing, kicking the floor and wishing Daniel gone. Wishing Daniel would just get out of his life so everything could go back to how it used to be when Kris was the only one and that made him the best one and—

He hadn't realised anyone else was in the room. Not until he heard his mother screaming and turned to see Daniel climbing onto the counter and reaching for the block of knives, pulling out the biggest, sharpest knife, the blade glinting in the sunlight.

Kris's dad had run in, grabbed Kris and thrown him over his shoulder, running out the back door and into the garden. They got all the way to the end of the road before anyone thought to put him down and tell him to stop singing.

Daniel still has a scar on his arm. Kris gave up singing where anyone could possibly hear for another eight years. He practiced and practiced, learned how to stop wanting anything. The day he could give his mum vouchers for public singing and know he'd be in control of every note was one of the best days of his life.

People had said his gift would be no good for hero work, but Kris had always thought making criminals walk to the nearest police station and give themselves up was actually pretty useful.

*

"You look nervous," Adam says, leaning on the dresser and watching him. "I know rock week isn't your ideal theme but you'll get through. You're amazing, it's going to be fine." He hesitates. "If you want me to help you relax—"

Kris laughs a little at the normalcy of it. He just has to get through Come Together and Renegade. Oh, and then there's the bank robberies and the rumours that his arch nemesis is in town (and before the rumours started Kris hadn't even realised he had an arch nemesis, just a few run-of-the-mill mortal enemies) so he'll have to spend all night on the streets which means more excuses for Adam, more lying and one more night when any sleep he gets will be taken alone.

Kris has been meaning to say 'yes' to Adam for weeks now but there's never been _time_ even though Katy keeps telling him guys like Adam only come around once in a lifetime.

Guys like Adam, who is still watching him apprehensively waiting for an answer. Kris stands up and crosses over to him so he can go for a hug, just a hug, face planting against Adam's freakishly high chest. "Not right now," he says, the way he always does.

Adam sighs, but hugs him back. "You can say no, Kris. My ego can probably take it."

Kris closes his eyes and holds tighter. "Not right now."

*

Kris met Katy at high school. She came back to his house—he couldn't remember ever inviting her, but she definitely came—pulled out a bag of luridly coloured fabrics and told him they were going to be superheroes.

It wasn't until a month into their friendship that she remembered to mention her power was finding other people with powers. "Do you really think I'm forward enough to ask every random person I meet?"

Kris hadn't said 'yes' but it had probably been implied because Katy had laughed, hit him lightly and gone back to designing costumes. Katy was beautiful, his best friend and she knew his secret so Kris asked her out.

It anyone asked what he was doing at night, he could just look suggestively at Katy. Whenever he needed to patrol, he could pretend to have plans with Katy. Dating Katy made his life a whole lot easier.

This was one of the points he made when Katy said they were splitting up. She had sighed, hit him lightly, and told him that relationships weren't supposed to make life easier.

*

He stands in the wings to watch Adam and Allison sing Slow Ride but disappears before they leave the stage. The sight of Adam with his hair spiked, skin covered in a sheen of sweat but a smile emblazoned on his face as the judges say he might have saved Allison is almost more than Kris's restraint can handle.

Giving up one night is the first step on the road to retirement. 'I'll save them tomorrow' turns so easily into 'next week' or 'next month.' Kris has seen even the greatest heroes fall victim to apathy and he won't be one of them. He leaves Adam to celebrate his victory and goes back to the mansion, taking his costume and laying it out on the bed.

He looks at it for a long time. He's going to put it on—he is—he just needs a moment.

Kris's bed is neat, perfectly made. Adam's is still a mess, still covered in the five outfits he tried on before settling on the two he wore tonight. Kris could be in that bed tonight, he's had more than enough invitations.

He picks up his mask and holds it over his eyes, looking at himself in the mirror. He just looks like Kris Allen in a mask. How does this fool anybody?

*

Kris met Cale at the same time as Katy. Cale hadn't known any of Kris's secrets, he didn't have any superpowers except whichever one rendered him incapable of finding the right girl. He seemed to spend half of his life lying on Kris's bed bemoaning everything about his life.

That was until he found out that Kris could sing which Kris was certain he'd never mentioned because as a general rule he didn't tell anyone (yes, he had control now, but there were still _risks,_ damn it).

Somehow—without Kris consenting to anything—he ended up in the music club and the choir and in a _band_ of all things. He was scrounging up money for an album and all he could think was 'huh, how did this happen?'

(Katy attended his recording sessions with a small smile that suggested she knew exactly how it had happened and had played a rather large part in it. Kris had totally put her on street duty for, like, a week and a half _._ Maybe just a week.)

He gained control—maybe that was the objective all along—he gained control in _spades_ to the point where when Cale asked if he wanted to try out for Idol he found himself saying "yes," and knowing that it would be okay.

And though it was tempting to make everyone vote for Adam (why weren't they voting for him anyway, was the important question) or just make everyone stop voting for Gokey (why, just why _?)_ , Kris had always had a moral code and he stuck to it like glue.

Sometimes he wondered if he was using his power without even realising it. Top four? Him? It seemed almost too good to be true.

*

He meets Katy a few streets away from the mansion. The leather of his pants chafes, the mask ruins his peripheral vision, the night is cold as _fuck_ and somewhere behind him is a double bed with one person in it _again_. "Can we do this quickly?" he snaps.

Katy frowns, pulling her own mask into place on her nose. "I could take this one alone, if you need the night off. I know Simon was an ass but you've got good will built up and even if you don't... top four is good, top four is amazing, and if you win—" she trails off, which is good because they haven't touched on what happens if Kris wins and it isn't something he wants to touch on.

It won't happen. Allison gets more amazing every day and Adam is fucking _Adam._ Kris isn't going to win so he doesn't have to worry about PR folk and publicity and gossip sites watching his every move. He doesn't have to give anything up. "Let's go."

*

Kris was aware of Adam from the first moment of Hollywood week. It was hard not to be since Adam's presence pretty much commanded the attention of every room he was in. They were at the meet and greet and Kris was trying to brush off Danny Gokey before he had to hear any more about the man's wife.

"It isn't fair, when you think about it. They save so many people and, what, she wasn't good enough? Wasn't worth—"

"Hi," Kris said, cutting across Danny and completely ignoring the pink haired woman that Adam had just started talking to. "I'm Kris."

Adam's eyes flicked away from Alexis to Kris and he smiled a surprised, pleased smile. "Adam," he said, reaching out to take Kris's hand. "What's a boy like you doing in a place like this?"

Kris almost laughed out loud. "Well, my momma told me to be careful of the big city so I'm just looking for a big strong man to protect my virtue," he said, playing up the southern drawl as much as he could.

"There are a lot of dangerous types, I hear. You need to be careful which big strong man you choose."

Kris did laugh at that one, reaching up to press his palms over his eyes. "See no evil."

Danny suddenly went very quiet. Kris dropped his eyes and glanced sideways at him, "Are you okay?"

Danny swallowed stiffly. "I hadn't realised you were just as bad as he is," he forced out, before turning on his heel and disappearing into the crowd.

Adam reached out to grab at Kris's hand, as though afraid a flash of homophobia might scare him away. "Don't listen to him."

Kris smiled and let himself be tugged a little closer. "I wasn't planning to."

*

No one shows up to rob the bank. The police scanner they stole is silent, there aren't even any muggings in the dark alleys they bother to check. If Kris's arch nemesis—The Scream—is really in town, he seems to be taking the night off.

There is a flash of colour on the horizon when Kris and Katy walk slowly back to the mansion. "You should've stayed," Katy says

Kris kicks a drink can fiercely and thinks about Adam and spending a whole day exhausted for no reason and the results show where he's going to have to be humble and gracious about going home and he won't be in the mansion anymore and this was his last chance and fucking _Adam._ "I guess we'll be back home by tomorrow."

"You could tell him. I wouldn't mind. Or we could stay in LA, you could get a hotel room. Kris, guys like Adam only come around—"

"- once in a lifetime," Kris finishes. "You've said."

They stop a few streets away, as always, and she stands on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "Don't let this be your whole life, Kris." She takes half a step away. "You know, I heard a rumour about Samson."

"I know." He turns away, pulling his cloak tighter around him as he walks down the last few streets to the mansion. He is just reaching for the key around his neck when the door bursts open to reveal Allison , red hair messed everywhere and mascara streaked down her cheeks.

It doesn't look like she's slept at all. "Oh god," she says, looking at him as though he's some kind of miracle. "Oh thank god. I called the police but I didn't know—I don't know what they can do. I said the word 'supervillain' and it just sounded like they gulped but clearly they called you so—"

"Wait," Kris says, forgetting to change his voice or his mannerisms or do anything other than try to catch up. "What's happened?"

She wipes her cheek with one hand and sniffs hard. "Danny kidnapped Adam. The Scream took Adam."

*

Danny avoided Kris after that first meeting. Fortunately, Kris didn't care at all because Adam had gone the opposite way. They were in different hotel rooms but every night Adam dragged Kris to the hotel bar and plied him with beers until Kris found himself opening up far more than he would to anyone normally. After two nights Adam knew more about him than anyone except Katy and possibly Cale.

When Matt left and they asked where Kris wanted to move to, he didn't even hesitate which was a shame because it meant he didn't think.

Adam smiled brightly when Kris knocked on the door, pulling him into a hug and beaming. "I was wondering when I'd get to talk to you without my wallet taking a hit."

Kris blushed and started to say "I could've paid—" but was interrupted by Adam kissing him so it came out more as "I could've _mmmph_."

"This is okay?" Adam asked, twenty minutes, two ruined shirts and a handjob later. "This is what you wanted, right?"

Kris laughed and tugged him down for another kiss. That was—of course—the moment someone unleashed a zombie army on the lower city and Kris found himself taking a call from Katy while Adam kissed his way down Kris's chest. "I have to go."

Adam looked up, laughing. "It can wait," he said, pushing Kris lightly towards the bed.

Kris just stepped to one side and grabbed his suitcase from the floor, where he hadn't even started unpacking. "I'll be back late. Don't wait up."

It had pretty much been like that ever since.

*

Kris has Brad's phone number and he calls the moment he is out of sight of the mansion. "Do you still have the tracking key for the GPS on Adam's phone?"

"Who is this?"

"Kris," Kris says. "I mean, Don't Stop The Music. No, I mean Kris. _Fuck_." He slams his fist into a wall, remembering that he doesn't have super strength just in time to cut his knuckles open on the bricks.

"Calm down, honey, you're totally screwing with my zen right now. Deep breaths, stay calm, did you and Adam have a fight?"

Kris rubs the back of his neck and gets his fingers tangled up in the _damn_ cape. "We didn't have a fight. There's going to be a fight. I need to get to the fight, I need to—"

"You're not making sense, Kris. Start at the beginning."

Kris takes a deep, steadying breath. "I need you to turn on your laptop and use the GPS to locate him. I need you to do it right now and I need you to not ask questions."

There is a long silence on the line, and then Brad says an address, slowly and carefully like he's reading it off a screen. "Kris," he adds, when Kris is about to hang up.

"What?"

"Don't Stop The Music... what did you mean? Are you, like, a superhero or someth-"

Kris hangs up, drops his phone in the nearest gutter and runs. His cover is blown, his idol career is over and his arch nemesis is a homophobic asshole who has kidnapped the man he never got around to making his boyfriend.

He tears off his cape and his mask, leaving them scattered on the sidewalk as he runs. They were just slowing him down, anyway.

*

They moved into the mansion together. Adam didn't ask the easy questions that Kris had prepared his lies to like 'where do you go at night?' or 'why is your wardrobe locked?'. He asked 'do you want to...?' or 'can I...?' questions where the answer should've been 'yes, whatever you want' but was always 'not tonight', 'not now'.

They played each other their songs and gave advice where necessary. If all the sofas in the living room were empty, they would still curl up together. Everyone thought they were dating. Sometimes even Kris believed it.

Until he saw the look in Adam's eyes after every 'not right now.' The look of 'I won't be waiting much longer.'

He went out in the dead of night and punched villains. Supervillains, regular villains, petty criminals. He fought crime until there was nothing left to fight and when he went home his bed was still empty and nothing got solved, nothing ever got fixed.

He wasn't supposed to leave it this long. It wasn't supposed to be too late.

*

Danny is standing in the shadows of an abandoned theatre. It's so climax-of-a-movie cliché that Kris wants to groan but he can't because he's too busy scanning the rows of seats and the boxes for any sign of Adam. "Don't Stop The Music," Danny gloats, as though he doesn't know who Kris is—as though he hasn't known since day one when Kris covered up the top half of his face and of _course_ his arch nemesis would recognise him from that. "Looks like I've finally found your weakness."

Kris opens his mouth, but Danny reaches up to tap the plugs in his ears. "I'm sorry, I can't seem to ear you." He touches a button on the controller in his hand and Adam drops from the ceiling, caught at the last minute by a rope around his stomach. His hands and feet are tied, but his face is uncovered so Kris can see the desperation in his eyes.

"Kris! Kris, run! He's a fucking supervillain, he's fucking _crazy_ , you have to get out of here. Find a hero or—" he trails off, presumably noticing for the first time the black leather Kris is wearing, the faint marks around his eyes from where his mask was too tight. "Kris..."

Danny looks from Adam to Kris slowly, his expression becoming one of delighted awe. "You didn't _tell_ him? All those nights sneaking out of your shared bedroom and you didn't once think to _tell_ him." He laughs, cold and echoing. "I told my wife on our second date. I told her the moment I knew I loved her. But, I suppose, folk like _you_ don't love. Not really."

Kris takes half a step forward and Danny touches a button on his remote causing Adam to drop another foot. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you." He starts off on some spiel about his wife and how Kris didn't save her like Kris should be able to save every single person in the whole fucking world but all Kris can do is stare at Adam

"You could've told me," Adam says, very softly. "I wouldn't have said anything. You could have trusted me. I thought... I guess I was being naive. I mean, you made your position very clear and Brad kept saying that actions speak louder than words but I just let myself believe—"

"It's not like that." Kris tugs his gloves off, suddenly desperate to get out of the costume. "You weren't supposed to be involved. This isn't about you."

"I'm tied to a fucking hook in a fucking theatre by a fucking _lunatic_ because the guy I thought I was in love with is a superhero who just lies and uses people." Adam was rocking so hard on his rope that Kris was terrified at any moment he would fall and that would be... that would be that. "Did you think I would wait forever? Did you think I would just sit in the mansion waiting for every single person in the whole _fucking_ world to be saved so you could take one night off to be with me? Was that your plan? Was that how you justified wanting to be with me while hiding half of your life?"

Kris shakes his head weakly. "This isn't supposed to be my life. Music, idol, you. That's my life. This is just... it's just something I have to do."

"Why?"

Kris opens his mouth to explain about great power coming with great responsibility and there not being enough heroes and all the people who wouldn't be here if he hadn't saved them, then looks into Adam's eyes and finds he doesn't quite know what to say.

"Are you even listening to me?" Danny demands, reaching up to tug out one earplug and Kris doesn't even hesitate.

 _"The jig is up the news is out they've finally found me_   
_The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty_   
_Never more to go astray_   
_This will be the end today."_

Danny's thumb twitches against the remote and his face twists but he doesn't move and Kris keeps singing in a low voice as he walks through the aisles and up onto the stage, sliding the remote out from between his fingers and lowering Adam to the ground.

"Not as fragile as I look," Kris says, trying to be glib and smile. Trying to convey that it's okay, they've won, the heroes are the victors once again and Danny is—

A shot rings out. Kris opens his mouth to sing again on instinct, spinning around to see Danny holding the pistol in both hands even as he freezes again. Kris doesn't stop to wonder how he missed at point blank range, focuses on pulling the gun from his grip and snatching handcuffs from his belt to snap onto Danny's wrists.

He doesn't kill people anymore. He doesn't hate them so much they pick up a butcher's knife and press it into their own chests. He chains Danny to a chair and kicks the gun aside and doesn't think about the small smile on Danny's face until he turns to Adam and sees the red stain spreading across his chest.

Point blank range. There was no reason anyone would've missed.

Danny laughs, a hacking sound that seems to parody Adam's low cough. The wound is in his side—Kris was between Danny and Adam so the angle must've been wrong but Adam is still crumpled on the ground, trying to press his bound hands to the blood leaking all over the floor.

Kris drops to his knees beside Adam, pushing Adam's hands away so he can press his palm against the wound. Blood flows across his fingers, warm and thick. "Adam? Adam, talk to me."

He wasn't supposed to leave it this long. It wasn't supposed to be too late.

"Because it's a circle," Adam whispers. "Because superheroes save people until they lose the one person they needed to save and they _always_ lose that person. People are in danger just from being around you, from loving you."

"I'm sorry," Kris whispers. "I'm so sorry. I love you."

Adam's fingers clutch weakly at his leg and he manages a faint smile. "Can I...?"

Kris blinks back tears. "Yes," he says—finally, fucking finally—leaning down to kiss him as the doors burst open and Brad leads a team of paramedics inside. "Anything you want."

They say Samson cut his own hair so he could say 'I can't' rather than 'I won't'. Kris holds Adam tight and promises to stop the music, stop the fighting, stop the world if only he pulls through.

Adam's fingers close tight around his and he dares to hope that maybe it's never too late.


End file.
